Native Americans and archeologists are calling for a more thorough study of the Hellman Ranch property, contending a dozen identified archeological sites there are threatened by proposed development. The comments came during a public meeting this week before a city-appointed Archeological Advisory Committee that is considering excavation plans for the site.

State archeologists Tuesday began an emergency excavation of a 1,000-year-old Calabasas Indian village that lies beneath the planned main entrance to Malibu Creek State Park. Officials said they will sift through dirt taken from sample holes dug at the site of the ancient village of Talapop before deciding whether to allow construction of the $560,000 road. Archeologists said their first spadefuls of dirt turned up bone fragments and beads.

TAGHAR, Afghanistan - In a rugged valley outside Kabul, where mud-walled villages blend into bare scrubland, a team of international mining experts and Afghan trainees set up camp over the winter to probe the region's mineral resources. Protected by armed guards, they spent three months drilling test holes into the snowcapped peaks, as curious goat- and sheepherders looked on. "We hit copper damn near everywhere," said Robert Miller, a Colorado-based mining executive recruited by the Pentagon to help advise Afghan authorities on how to develop the country's natural resources.

On the hallowed grounds of the Alamo, a shrine so sacred that men still must doff their hats before setting foot in the limestone chapel, Frank Buschbacher is digging for gold. For the last month, his team of excavators has delicately sifted through a gaping hole carved out of the plaza floor, an unprecedented treasure hunt somewhat akin to burrowing for riches underneath the Vatican.

A construction worker died Monday when an excavator he was driving onto a barge slipped off and fell into the Sacramento River, state officials said. The Sacramento Bee identified the man as 49-year-old Richard Wayne Alexander of Pittsburg. Alexander died after 1:30 p.m. when the excavator he was driving fell into about 15 feet of water, said Cal/OSHA spokesman Greg Siggins. The agency, which investigates possible workplace safety violations, will issue the findings of its review into the incident by April, he added.

Authorities were excavating a grave site Wednesday in unincorporated Victorville after finding multiple sets of human remains in a deserted area. A motorcyclist stumbled upon the first set of remains Monday morning in the desert area between Quarry Road and the 15 Freeway, according to the San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department. Coroner's officials confirmed the remains were human and returned with homicide investigators Tuesday to continue the investigation. Now, "investigators believe they have located the remains of more than one person," the Sheriff's Department said, adding that it appears the remains have been there for some time.

The preserved footprints and abandoned homes of villagers who fled a giant eruption of Mt. Vesuvius 3,800 years ago show the volcano could destroy modern-day Naples with little warning, Italian and U.S. researchers reported Monday. The eruption buried entire villages as far as 15 miles from the volcano, cooking people as they tried to escape and dumping several feet of ash and mud.

A local Indian group asked the Ventura County Board of Supervisors this week to adopt a more stringent plan for protecting ancient village sites and burial grounds from unplanned excavations. Under the Candelaria American Indian Council's proposal, the county would map areas containing known burial sites and ancient villages. Excavations in sensitive areas would be monitored by archeologists, and any artifacts would be studied and reburied in a safe location at the property owner's expense.

Archeologists pulled the last bones from a 7th century Saxon settlement, clearing the way for resumption of the road project that led to the discovery of the site. "It's a very important historical discovery," said Rob Maysfield, chief of the excavations. "One woman . . . was found buried with two large gold brooches and an amber and bead necklace. This is a significant find revealing more to us of the pagan times in Britain." The site was found in Aston Clinton, 40 miles northwest of London.

An old tire, a couple of mail boxes, a gaggle of dime-store collectibles, a globe spinning above a classical column. These are among the junk-heap gleanings in "Excavations," an exhibition at Otis/Parsons that presents a rather diffident visage to visitors. The energy level rises deeper into the show, but the work of the five artists seems almost completely disconnected.